Advocacy
Advocate For Change
LESS THAN 12% OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN HAVE ACCESS TO MIDWIFERY-LED CONTINUITY OF CARE
MCA works to improve our maternity system so that it better meets the needs and choices of Australian women accessing maternity care services. We do this through consumer representation, consumer advocacy, education and support.
STATE ADVOCACY
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Find out about the state advocacy work being done by clicking on a state:
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For more than 25 years, we have seen birth intervention rates rise steadily, along with postpartum depression rates. We could overlook this if we were seeing improved outcomes for mothers and babies.
However, in the same period, there has been no improvement in stillbirth rates, and suicide and iatrogenic harm are the leading causes of maternal death.*
Our maternity care system is not improving outcomes for mothers and babies, nor does it explain the full suite of birth choices available to them.
Yet over the last two decades, our federal government has held inquiries and published strategic plans to improve maternity outcomes. The latest one is Woman Centred Care: Strategic Directions for Australian Maternity Services.
It is a worthwhile, evidence-based document, but state and territory governments are not mandated to implement it, hence the lack of change. Here at MCA, we are doing our utmost to hold our governments to account for this injustice that continues to be meted out to mothers, babies and families generally.​
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